The scene in Odisha is akin to what Israel is doing to the people of Gaza Strip is what can be the fitting metaphor at the moment.

A huge brigade from the saffron camp has factually pitched its tent in Odisha to see the Naveen led regime here to a point of fear psychosis and BJP’s plan for a Double Engine gimmick finds a space here.

Difficult to digest that the Prime Minister of the country has visited the state for the 4th time along with a galaxy of leaders to scare the BJD to an extent so that the voters will get brainwashed for the change.

Ten Union ministers, five state chief ministers, a dozen BJP state presidents having visited the State of Odisha, this itself speaks in volumes as who is more panicked? And who is not.

With the last phase about to begin on June 1, with all its cylinders blasting the BJP has turned the state of Odisha a political pilgrimage as no day passes when a leader from the national level does not land in Odisha.

By all records this is the first time that Odisha has turned as the rookery for creating more MPs, an undeniable quest by Modi to recover from his complex of losing grounds in many other parts in India .

Including his scheduled visit on May 29, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi would make his 4th visit to Odisha as a final assault on the Biju Janata Dal purportedly to wrest Odisha from Naveen led dispensation for his goal at ‘double engine’.

“Besides that, Odisha has virtually become the replenishment vessel which the BJP banks on for its slogan of ‘abki baar, 400 paar’, obviously, the BJP premonition of a decline in its vote bank in the North” opined Rabi Das, senior political analyst.

The use of language to demean the aura of Naveen Patnaik on his alleged ill health and him being a ‘captive’ by some people in the BJD hierarchy sounds to be too personal and below the belt. Which do not fit into any decent political discourse” added Das.

Union Home minister Amit Shah is in Odisha again on Tuesday(today) and resorting to the often repeated threats to uproot the Naveen regime and trying to paint the CM in pitiable colours as a man who has been allegedly using crutches to walk the talks in this present electioneering.

Although after the 6th polling in Odisha on 25th May, there was virtually a disturbing calm in the state.

However, the storm is not yet over before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s next visit on May 29 for the final battering of the BJD.

In the waiting area are three major Lok Sabha constituencies. The high-profile Kendrapara, Balasore and Mayurbhanj are going to the polls on June 1.

Among the three Kendrapara stands out as the nerve centre of Coastal politics. Although Kendrapada has usually remained a BJD bastion for long but fielding BJP’ Baijayant Jay Panda for the second time seems Modi is making a last ditch effort to help Panda to win despite his humiliating defeat in Kandarpada as a BJP candidate in 2019.

After two consecutive wins in 2009 and 2014 from Kendrapara as the most flamboyant face then, the political observers grudge him any credits and instead give all to Naveen Patnaik whose popularity helped Panda a piggyback ride to victory twice.

“The results of 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha poll in Kendrapara revealed that it was Naveen’s  flourishing aura alone which buoyed Panda through all turbulence twice, mainly in 2014, when Odisha stood apart despite  the Modi wave” said Priya Ranjan Sahu, senior journalist.

But in the current scenario the things seem changing as the PM is working overtime in Odisha along with many from the saffron bandwagon.

The other key Lok Sabha constituency is Balasore that went in favour of the BJP’s Pratap Sarangi who was also made a union minister. But this time it may be a varying chemistry as Sarangi faces tough fights from BJD’s Lakhashree Samantsinghar (a BJP turncoat) and the Congress  candidate Srikant Jena, a former union minister in the erstwhile JD government who won the Balasore Lok Sabha seat  once under the UPA regime. Jena, according to poll watchers, cannot be counted out as a strong claimant this time regardless of the miserable presence of the Congress in the state.

In nutshell what picture that emerges from the ground surveys is that, the BJD is on its way to must wins likely in Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, Berhampur, Kendrapara, Sambalpur (with a tough fight in waiting there), Mayurbhanj, Jajpur and Malkangiri, that makes 7 seats out of 21 total.

Rest, if any addition to the above, would be a bonus for the BJD like in Bhubaneswar where there is an undercurrent for the BJD when anti-incumbency comes into play.

While Balasore Lok Sabha seat is poised for a   tough contest to the BJP and the BJD from the Congress veteran Srikant Jena who had once won the seat under the UPA regime and had left a lot of foot-prints, those may pay dividends to Jena.